Having almost 30 scholarship offers would usually be the ideal situation for a high school recruit to find himself in entering the summer before his senior year. For Bellbrook (Ohio) Bellbrook high school offensive lineman Sam Longo, its an enjoyable position to sit in, but something is still missing. s

Playing his high school ball in Ohio coupled with the fact that his father, Gene, is a former Ohio State football player, Longo was naturally drawn to the Buckeyes. But unfortunately for Longo, Ohio State isn't among the extensive offer list he currently holds.

"(Ohio State) hasn't given me an offer yet," said Longo. "When I was at spring practice, they told me that I was one of the top Ohio linemen they were looking at, so I guess I am in the top five they are looking at."

Longo said if Ohio State were to come through with an offer that would most likely jump the Buckeyes to the top of his list.

"Honestly, me growing up in Ohio and them being in the Big Ten, (an offer) would really mean a lot to me," Longo said. "It is a great school, football and academics, so it would definitely mean a lot.

"(If I got an offer) it would probably jump them right to the top," Longo added. "It would be a big deal for me. (Ohio State) is definitely (somewhere I would want to go). My dad played there and my mom went there too, so there is a lot of tradition and I have a lot of ties there, too."

Longo was admittedly fond of the Big Ten, given the conference's traditional and straightforward offensive schemes that usually sport heavy running tendencies. Run blocking is what Longo figures to be his "strength," so he said schools in the conference may be better to expose his talents.

"Boston College, Purdue, and Cincinnati are probably my top three that I have visited so far," Longo said. "But other than that I am pretty much open to everybody."

Despite not having an offer on the table from Ohio State, Longo has been in contact with some coaches on the Buckeyes' staff. Tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator John Peterson visited Longo to watch him throw shot-put a few weeks ago and he has also been in contact with program assistant and recruiter Greg Gillum.

After breaking his wrist in the first game of last year's season, one of the knocks on Longo at the time was his smaller size for a Division I lineman.

Since then, however, Longo has put on 35 pounds muscle mass which has drawn the attention of Ohio State offensive line coach Jim Bollman. Long has made plans to be in touch with Bollman during the permitted spring evaluation period.

"The coaches haven't really talked to me much about anything," Longo said. "Coach Bollman had an impression of me as a 230-pound lineman, but since I have put on (35 pounds) of weight, so it will be good to get down there and meet him so he can get his eyes on me."

Longo will not be in attendance for Ohio State's camps over the course of the next month, as he plans on spending the entire summer visiting as many campuses as possible.

"I have already told the (Ohio State) staff that I am not going to the camps, so I don't know what to expect," Longo said. "We have like three weeks of visiting to do. There are probably like 12 or 15 schools I am going out to. I am going to head up to California to see Stanford, ten gong to Nebraska, then Penn State, Florida State, Miami (Fla.), and some others I can't remember.

"I want to make the decisions before my senior season so I can just focus on my solely on my team and there is always a chance that you can get hurt."